COMPARISON BETWEEN ROBINSON CRUSOE AND MOLL FLANDERS

Matteo Casiello classe IIB

Moll Flanders and Robinson Crusoe are two of the best novels written by Daniel Defoe and they
show differences and similarities. They are both fictitious autobiographies about individuals who
are trying to make their way through life but, in two entirely different situations. They are structured
in the same way, in the sense that they are both first person narratives. However, in the case of
Robinson Crusoe, the main character lives a life of isolation on a desert island whereas Moll
Flanders has a much more gregarious lifestyle, and many intimate relationships along the way.

The first significant contrast between the two lives is that Robinson Crusoe has a relatively normal
family background, while Moll was born in a prison (Newgate) to a criminal mother - and is later
abandoned when her mother is sent away to a penal colony (Virginia) in the Americas. However,
she does find some solace in a foster home.Crusoe, on the other hand, has already achieved some
commercial succesess when an unfortunate accident leaves him stranded on a desert island, without
any companions.

The settings of the two stories could not be more different: the one, an exotic island in which
Crusoe is completely isolated from his fellow man, and the other, the opposite: the story takes place
in the crowded streets of the biggest city in England: London where he describes its markets,
courtrooms,prisons, police stations, boarding houses.

Furthermore, Moll has an urban upbringing and many intimate relationships during her socially
adventureous life. She is unequivocally upwardly mobile – a modern woman, ahead of her time –
using her personal charms to get on in her life. Meanwhile, Crusoe has to use his own personal
resources to make the best of a bad job. Unlike Moll, who has the time and the opportunities to plan
her life in a positive way, the unfortunate Englishmen has to fend for himself by using his
ingenuity to find ways to survive on a island without any help.

Another difference can be easily seen in the role of the two protagonist: if Robinson is considered
as a commercial hero: one of the first men who was trying to colonize the world (and this is
demonstrated by his attitude towards Friday, a man who Crusoe meets on the island and becomes
his slave. In fact, Crusoe changes the name of the native into Friday, teaches Friday the principles
of Christianity, and the basics of English in order to underline his superiority over the Indian.),
Moll is the prototype of the modern woman, who does everything she can, without ethical
consideration (she even becomes a prostitute) in order to reach a better social position; however,
they both live by their wits: they can only count on their self-reliance and resourcefulness due to the
fact that they live in two hostile worlds in which they live alone.

Both Moll Flanders and Robinson Crusoe are told by a narrator , in the first person but here an issue
occurs: should the reader trust the first-person narrator? We should ask ourselves this question
owing to the fact that it was common ,at that time, for writers to show a didactic and moral concern
yet ,for certain , Moll aims at her own success as Crusoe ,who tries to justify his mistakes as due to
bad luck and inexperience: so they both have little moral awareness.

Ultimately, according to the texts, both main characters achieve something in common, success:
Crosoe is rescued, and Flanders finds financial security. However, the situations they had found
themselves in were extremely different!